Notes: Sprague long on success at short tracks

Three-time champion Jack Sprague is all smiles this week -- even if things didn't exactly go his way at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

Saturday's Ohio 250 (Entry List) at Mansfield Motorsports Park is next on the schedule and Sprague's record at the .5-mile oval is nothing short of incredible.

Sprague has competed at Mansfield four times, winning in 2004. Since then, he's finished second in three consecutive races.

It might be the half-mile track. Sprague is third in series short-track wins (13) and is the only driver to have won at all five such tracks on the schedule.

Sprague can't completely explain his success at Mansfield but said, "Mansfield is a short track just like I grew up on. I have the most experience with these types of tracks and I am most comfortable racing at these venues."

Sprague, however, is candid in explaining one element.

"A lot of my success can be attributed to pit strategy," he said. "We have always had great pit stops and been able to make the right calls [for track position].

"Qualifying is very critical here. A good qualifying effort can set you up to have a great day."

ThorSport an outsider but ...

ThorSport Racing is based in Sandusky, Ohio, and is the only full-time team not headquartered in North Carolina or Virginia.

"The fans in Ohio look forward to this race all year, and they really let us know how much they enjoy having [us] visit. They treat the drivers like kings," said Shelby Howard, driver of ThorSport's No. 13 Chevrolet. "It adds extra excitement being at our home track, less than an hour from our shop. There's just an electricity in the air."

ThorSport is coming off a win this past Friday at Lowe's when Matt Crafton drove the No. 88 Chevrolet to Victory Lane.

"I can't thank Duke and Rhonda Thorson enough for the money they put out of their own pocket," said Crafton, who won for the first time in his 178-race career.

A full-time team since 1998, ThorSport Racing hadn't won since Terry Cook posted its only victory on Aug. 8, 1998 at the now defunct Flemington (N.J.) Speedway. Crafton won in the team's 237th start since that win.

Auton: Nice town, track tough

"When we were a lot younger, it was always exciting when the circus came to our area of North Carolina.

"That's how I'd explain the response of residents in and around Mansfield, Ohio, since the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series made its first visit to the community in 2004.

Fast facts

What	Ohio 250 at Mansfield
When	Green, 1:15 p.m. ET Saturday
TV	SPEED, 12:30 p.m. ET
Radio	MRN (Sirius Ch. 28), 1 p.m. ET

• Track Page | Tickets | Series

"We have been welcomed with open arms to say the least. It seems like the whole town turns out for the annual hauler parade and downtown street festival.

"Thousands of folks have taken the opportunity to meet our drivers, get autographs and tour team and NASCAR haulers.

"It harkens back to another era in racing -- when the NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series were in their infancies and visited tracks in small towns across the southeast.

"The NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is definitely No. 1 in mid-Ohio during the fourth week of May.

"Mansfield Motorsports Park itself hasn't always been so welcoming to the drivers.

"The well-banked half-mile is among the most challenging short tracks on the schedule.

"A driver must be on top of his game and his crew chief more so.

"A year ago, Spears Motorsports gambled on a no-stop strategy and Dennis Setzer won. That won't happen this year as we've reduced the capacity of the fuel cell.

"One thing is certain. The fans will see a lot of close-up action.
-- Craftsman Truck Series director Wayne Auton (Continued)